Calf Born With Two Heads

Greetings,

A few days a go on our diary farm we had a calf that was born with two heads. This not may seem like a big deal to most however, this was a first for our farm in 75 years or more.

We have had a calf born with very short legs but nothing prepared us for this.

It was a sad day, not knowing what was going through her mind. She was a heifer, pronounced Heffer and could well have made a great dairy cow.

The reason, we believe, is that when the sperm enters the ovary and takes hold it suddenly splits and makes two of the same.

In any case, if your not wanting the watch something so distressfull please dont watch the video.



Rest is peace little lass,

Be safe be well

Spiro

Wow that really is strange.

What happens to the calf, do you have to put it down or does it die itself naturally or go on to live a long happy life?

S&F.

Greetings

bluloa
Wow that really is strange.

What happens to the calf, do you have to put it down or does it die itself naturally or go on to live a long happy life?

S&F.

Thankyou for replying.

She was put down, unfortunatly. She would be of no use to us on the farm.

I am so glad that I did not have to pull the trigger, Im a big softie when it comes to animals lol

Thanks again,

Be safe be well

Spiro

Strange indeed, did it have two brains? A shared portion each? Did only one have control over the body?

It looked like they were both fighting to control the head.

Another good question would be, is this just a sad natural occurrence, or is there something more sinister at play? ie Radioactive or biological/chemical.

In any case, really really sad.

Aw, poor wee thing. Nature can be so strange at times. RIP, little one.

Greetings, thanks for replying.

woogleuk
Strange indeed, did it have two brains? A shared portion each? Did only one have control over the body?

We are not sure as we did not do an autopsy. When we had to end her life we took into consideration thay there may have been two brians so when the shot was fired it had to be a series of 5 shots over the head area. Sorry if that sounds awful

It looked like they were both fighting to control the head.

We got that impression too. However, when a calf is born it feels free from being tight in her mother thus resulting in feeling great that she can move. This could be what your seeing, though I would not rule your observation out

Another good question would be, is this just a sad natural occurrence, or is there something more sinister at play? ie Radioactive or biological/chemical.

Great question indeed. There is something more sinister at play here, that being the split of sperm when entering the overay's. [ We believe ].

In any case, really really sad.


Tanks again,

Be safe be well

Spiro

That is so sad, did the mom reject her calf? I almost looks like the weight of the heads are too much for the neck to support?

Greetings,

whatnext21
That is so sad, did the mom reject her calf? I almost looks like the weight of the heads are too much for the neck to support?

Many thanks for replying.

Not at all, infact she, like every other cow would lick her calf clean of after birth which takes around 1 to 2 hours. She was competley clean and indeed the cow was encouragiing her calf to get up and suck. The poor thing could not even get up which correlates with your last sentence in that te calf could be seen to not be able to support her head.

Poor thing.

Thanks again,

Be safe be well

Spiro

Aww, poor baby. She looks like she might have been controlling left and right independently, so she was probably in a lot of pain from fighting with herself..

reply to post by Spiro


Poor thing! That does happen sometimes, though. I think it's when a split happens, as would with identical twins, that doesn't complete for some reason. I remember that the San Antonio Zoo had a two-headed snake some time back. Still might, as far as I know, but it's been ages since I was there. In that case, it was healthy, and the heads were fully formed, unlike this calf of yours.